On July 28, 2014, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approved the University of Houston’s request to create a new Master of Public Policy (MPP) degree program. The 39 credit hour interdisciplinary program, which accepted its first class for Fall 2015, prepares students to conduct advanced quantitative and qualitative analyses to provide them with the tools to gain employment in many areas of the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Besides the standalone MPP, several dual degrees/accelerated pathway programs are available via partnerships with other academic departments.

The program incorporates various goals contributing to UH’s Tier One status: student success; community advancement; local and national recognition; and the garnering of competitive resources, such as state and federal funds and philanthropy.

The graduates of the MPP program will be prepared to complete advanced analyses in any organization, leading to higher level analytic and decision-making positions that in turn will increase the visibility of the program and the university. In addition, MPP graduates will also be prepared to enter a Ph.D. program with a quantitative emphasis.

MPP graduates can expect to secure employment with federal, state, and local governments; educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and private corporations. The types of positions that MPP graduates obtain include:

The average starting salary of a MPP graduate will vary greatly by sector, geography, and work experience. For example, policy analysts average over $50,000, and executive positions average over $100,000.